The March Meltdown is about to commence. We groomed that quick-hitting, wind blown 2″ from yesterday’s squall, and will hit it again tonight for the weekend, but after this, the dreaded SW H5 high-pressure dome is set to cook our snowpack for 2 or 3 days until there’s a possibility of a storm next week to stop the damage. By then, I’m sure we’ll have a number of bare patches to ford around the trails…enough to stop grooming we think. There may still be some good skiing out in the upper meadow, so we’ll have to assess that. We’ll likely keep the bottom, Camp May Rd practice area groomed a bit longer for some afternoon laps. It was certainly nice this week. It’s kind of a bummer, since we had such good conditions up until now with a less-than-optimal snow pack.
Category: Grooming & Conditions Update
Rollercoaster of a Season
Trails are again, in great shape, after yet another season-saving period of wintry weather and snow. It was looking bleak again after our great mid-January period, but as has been the case this year, we got saved just in time. Things are great (front hill not included) the entire way around once again. Get it while it’s good. Who knows what the rest of this season has in store, but the forecasts don’t look too bad. If we make it into March for any length of time, we’ll consider it a win.
20/21 Season Finally Kicks Into Gear
Keep checking the FB page or the blogger for condition reports. Groomers are staying on top of the new snow as schedules allow. At any rate, the conditions as of now (late January) are GREAT!
New Snow!
Whew, we almost had to close up shop on the upper trails, but we got a nice little dose of much-needed snow. New groomer, Cameron Staples, got out early to roll pack it all, including Camp May practice area. He reports pretty nice conditions on the upper trails, and pretty good on the lower Guaje Road. It’ll still be thin, so keep bringing your “rock skis” until we get that big 10″+ storm. We’re kinda being strung along with these smaller storms. But, Enchanted Forest in Red River did receive 13″ as of this morning (Dec. 29). They’re totally set with great conditions for New Years!
Great conditions up at EFXC!
We put on a little informal SWNSki Kids intra-squad meet up at EFXC this past weekend, and were treated to wonderful conditions and a lot of fun. If you haven’t been up there yet, make the effort. It is definitely worth it! Also, they have a lot of used ski gear for kids, so ask Ellen Miller about that when you’re there.
Season is ON!
Well, at least we’re skiing a little bit. It’s definitely thin and “early season” as they say – use your old/rock skis! Be sure to check the club’s Facebook page (see link on this site), and also the club blog, where we post conditions updates as they come. It’s been so super busy trying to get things up and running that we’re behind with some posts, but that’ll change. Looks like more weather at the end of next week into New Year, etc. For now, we’ll take what we got. Also, get up to Enchanted Forest XC and get your season pass there. They have even better conditions!
NEW SNOW!!!
What a crazy year! Oh well, we’ll take this weather any time! The weird thing is that this is not actually the “first snow of the year” post, haha.
As of this post (Monday afternoon), it’s still coming down and quite cold. If it continues overnight, it might be worth taking out a machine and grooming Camp May road practice area — we’ll see. If that does pan out, we’ll report back. At any rate, we’ll definitely be holding the SWNSki Kids group practice at Western Area park tomorrow evening. We’ll probably even give it a test run tonight.
We heard that Enchanted Forest XC up in Red River is really getting pounded. That will make for some nice early season skiing. Woohoo!
End of Season Report (summer!)
We ended up being able to ski for most of March, but it only snowed a couple of times, forcing us to alter the tracks just enough to make it out to the good snow in the meadow. It snowed only once in April, with an oddly cold day in a string of overly warm and dry days, giving one last day of touring skiing. After that, we closed up shop and had a great cleanup day from club volunteers.
Conditions Report, March 6, 2020
Well, with the dearth of new snow and recent warm temps, our great ski season is taking a beating these days. There is an interesting forecast for next week, so we’ll see if we get a stay of execution. Trails were regroomed earlier this week, but there are about 4 or 5 thin, narrow sections that require a lot of caution to ford. They’re quite short, but be careful. Skiing was stellar on Tuesday, but things change quickly with long, warm, and sunny days.
Wacky Late Winter Weather
Weather is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get, especially around here this time of the year. That storm was weird, with warm rain below 8,000′, and wet slop above that until about 9,300′. The snow that did fall on the lower parts of the trail mostly just added water until it got colder and finally accumulated about 2″-3″, and above a certain level, was pretty good stuff. The new snow in the meadow trails was quite good.
We did get out and groom everything, then it snowed 2″ more (good snow) and the wind blew. So, there’s a mish-mash of conditions, but mostly are quite good. The skiing in the trees should be nice, with a good classic track (probably requiring some klister combo) and a firm skate lane. The meadow trails will likely be wind-blown drier snow. Gonna be cold these next couple of days, then there’s a warm-up over the weekend followed by another (bigger?) wet storm for next week. Roller-coaster weather season, for sure.